TromboneChat

I recently was guided to the revelation (with one of those tubes with a ping pong ball in it) that I have been playing with an aperture that is generally too small, a vowel sound that is not relaxed enough, and with my teeth too close together. Working with a teacher, I was able to produce a few notes in this new sound that was immediately resonated the room, more comfortable, and was plain physically les taxing. While we it took us the entire lesson to achieve this sound hit or miss on a middle F, I am very excited to improve my sound on all of the other notes I have to play on a day to day basis. Currently I have a pedal G to 8th partial Bb relatively (and I mean relatively) comfortable, however I'm looking to be able to play pedal F to high F as recommended by my teacher in order to have a few notes above and below what is necessary for the David.

How does one begin to approach the upper register without compromising on the vowel as well as collapsing/pinching the aperture? I've been told that the my current range can be incredibly easy with the correct approach.

For me the answer is airspeed. Increased airspeed comes with change in the vowel. Not sure what you mean by not compromising the vowel?

If I'm reading this correctly, I would personally use a mirror to make sure that as you ascend, your jaw and overall musculature are not tightening more than the minimum amount needed. Try to stay as stabilized as possible through the registers (some motion will be necessary in some ranges at the outer extremes.)

WolfNMaru wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 1:58 pm I recently was guided to the revelation (with one of those tubes with a ping pong ball in it) that I have been playing with an aperture that is generally too small, a vowel sound that is not relaxed enough, and with my teeth too close together. Working with a teacher, I was able to produce a few notes in this new sound that was immediately resonated the room, more comfortable, and was plain physically les taxing. While we it took us the entire lesson to achieve this sound hit or miss on a middle F, I am very excited to improve my sound on all of the other notes I have to play on a day to day basis. Currently I have a pedal G to 8th partial Bb relatively (and I mean relatively) comfortable, however I'm looking to be able to play pedal F to high F as recommended by my teacher in order to have a few notes above and below what is necessary for the David.

How does one begin to approach the upper register without compromising on the vowel as well as collapsing/pinching the aperture? I've been told that the my current range can be incredibly easy with the correct approach.

Remember that for the upper range you should use LESS air but at a faster speed, so backing off and trying to stay as relaxed as you can is key.

Can you whistle or blow the pitch? Notice as you ascend into the upper range how almost the only thing controlling the pitch is your tongue position. This gives you a clue of what your tongue should be doing whilst playing and how little force you need in that range. Another way to find the right tongue position, hiss like a cat or think of “kiss” but without the “ss”.

I know it's very common for people to say "faster air" but I think that's a completely useless way to look at it.
I most certainly don't think that way.

WolfNMaru wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 1:58 pm I recently was guided to the revelation that I have been playing with a vowel sound that is not relaxed enough

<multiple snips>

This needs its own thread, and I'll to try to collect some different ideas there, but there's vowel sound, and there's vowel pitch, and vowel shaping, and they aren't the same.

The imagery used by teachers is just a metaphor to make you visualize the problem differently. After you achieve the goal and play that way for a while, you realize you're not doing exactly what the teacher asked, but you are getting the desired result. Once you know how its supposed to sound and feel, our ears wind up guiding your chops.

Trying to micromanage all parameters of lip muscles, vocal cavity and airflow is impossible (especially since the physics of some visualization methods is questionable) , but your body knows how to do some things instinctively, and that's what you have to learn how to tap into.

Don't take the vowel metaphor too literally. It's not an exact description of how to play. You can control how open your jaw is, and the tongue position and shape for notes/ranges. You have to develop the muscle memory (driven by your ear) for what works.

And "the air volume passing the aperture" is something you can't measure or control directly. You control the diaphragm pressure and to some extent the tension in lip muscles, but even that becomes instinctive and indirect, guided by your ear. Air flow is only physically necessary to cause lip vibration when combined with lip tension.

All that to say don't take the metaphors too literally. Find the right sound and let your body instinctively take you back there when you need it.

A violinist move the bow in different speed. A fast bow does not make a higher note, a slow bow does not make a lower tone. A fast bow speed does make a louder tone. Some players say "it is not the same with wind instruments" but I think it is. If I blow a faster air I play louder.

Rusty wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 4:19 pm Remember that for the upper range you should use LESS air but at a faster speed, so backing off and trying to stay as relaxed as you can is key.

This is actually not helpful for me at all- I tried playing this way for a long time but it just made me very tense and unsupported above the staff. Thinking "more and faster air" is what gave me a breakthrough up there.